It is generally accepted internationally that employing children as soldiers is cruel and a violation of human rights, yet in some places it still occurs.

Children involved in armed conflict, are beaten, raped, and killed. What's more troubling is that they are forced to carry out the same violent actions towards other people, even other children. Child soldiers live under severe conditions. They are not given the care that every child should get. Boys are not the only victim of this serious issue. Girls are also recruited as soldiers and are more at risk of rape, sexual harassment or abuse. Like the boys, they are also force to participate in combat.

We have an obligation to millions of children to make sure that they don't spend their childhood in a violent world where they must kill or be killed.

Urge government organizations to do more to prevent the use of children in war and to raise awareness of the cruelties of employing child soldiers.

How To Write and Start a Petition

Finding the target

This is the company or organization that you would like to see change what they are doing or take some action. The target of a campaign depends on what the campaign is for. A target could range from a media corporation to a political party or the government. In some cases it may even be appropriate to have multiple targets.

Writing the Petition

Be concise while including all the important information. A good petition should quickly describe the situation for those who aren't totally aware and serve as a reminder for those already informed. It should suggest what is needed and who it is needed by and conclude with why it is needed. Again, make sure it isn't long, just a paragraph or two, because people become disinterested quickly if you're not to the point!

There are some regulations that come with making a petition which may influence whether you want to do a local, county or even state level petition. We recommend that you call your local government and ask for the exact set of guidelines and regulations before you proceed. This will let you know what kind of information you need, how many signatures to aim for and whether your petition needs approval before it is even circulated to begin with.

Gathering Signatures

If you're doing a paper petition, make sure you have copies of the petition summary and information for everyone who might be interested. Also have paper and pens available for the signatures you wish to collect. Your signature page should have some columns, which you can add using a pen and ruler or have it printed with columns. These will usually include things like the name, address, phone number and of course the signature (Provide plenty of space for the address because this is usually the longest category.

Number these pages and make photocopies of them whenever you can so you have back up copies of your petition if something were to happen.

Depending on the kind of petition, the people who sign may have to be eligible registered voters, so keep this in mind when looking for people to sign on.

Online or Offline?

Nowadays there are many online petitions To submit online petitions, there is a different set of rules if you want them to be taken seriously, these should be read through carefully and will affect the way you present a petition and the kinds of information you need from the signers. The exact rules and regulations for legitimate petitions vary from state to state and country to country and to go view some of them, visit http://www.gopetition.com

Online petitions have their advantages too though, the most important one being how much easier it is to access people. Online petitions are become more and more popular recently.

Privacy

Those who sign a petition are usually required to leave some sort of personal information, to ensure that their signature and their opinion is legitimate. You should ensure that their personal information is kept safe and let them know their information won't be shared with any third parties.

Online Examples

Click here to check out some successful petitions that you could use as examples for your own

Sources

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-the-use-of-child-soldiers.html

http://gopetition.com/howtowriteapetition.php